"To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:3

The Burckhard Family

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all my friends and family! He is risen! Alleluia!

Our Easter morning began celebrating the Resurrection at my parents' church. Bella must have grown up in a "Ukrainian" Missouri Synod Lutheran because she certainly could belt out those wonderful old hymns. It was so hard not to keep from laughing as she "sang" along, stopping her singing at just the right times. All of the congregation members around us couldn't help from smiling at her joyful "noise".

After church, we came home and had an egg hunt in our living room. (Still a bit chilly outside and our lawn is still too wet.) But Bella had so much fun! She found one blue egg and clutched it for dear life. With both her hands full, one holding a basket and the other an egg, she had a hard time collecting any more eggs. BUT, she certainly loved the chocolates inside!

Later in the afternoon, we hosted a dinner for our family. Grace was so excited to see Uncle Joe, that she and Bella waited for him to come back to their room. While Grace was waiting, she was shouting "I want Joe. I love Joe." After some time visiting with the adults, Joe finally made a pilgrimage back to the waiting girls. As you can see, the were tickled pink!

We are so thankful this Easter that little Bella is with our family. I can't believe it was a year ago already that we were waiting and waiting to get approval from the government to be able to adopt her. Now, she is here and brings so much joy to our whole family.

Blessings to you and yours this Easter. It is a glorious day to celebrate our risen King. He is risen indeed!

5 comments:

Great pictures!! Bella must think, "Wow! This place is so cool! It's either hunting for for eggs or unwrapping gifts..... not to mention all the yummy food!!!" I'm sure her singing was quite an addition to St. Mark's!! Happy Easter!

Ah, what BEAUTIFUL pictures!! And look at Bella in her pretty dress - that little button nose of hers gets me every time!! She's just soooo precious!!!

Looks like you had a glorious Easter. :o)

(And thank you for the prayers - God knows what he's doing and I LOVE it when he is the "go-between" between his children - your prayers were very timely and quite needed at this time. I can tell you more in a private e-mail, but thank you!!)

About Me

Hello! My name is Paula Burckhard. I am married to Kevin and have five children: Elizabeth (20), Samuel (17), Grace (14 w/Down syndrome), Bella (9 w/Down syndrome adopted from Ukraine 2009); and Nole' (7 w/Down syndrome adopted from Serbia 2011) We are a family that loves God and desires to bring him Glory in all we do.

Bella Bogdana Burckhard

This "beautiful gift from God" has been given to us through the miracle of adoption. She became part of our family in August 2009. We are excited to see how God will use this Ukrainian princess for his glory!